Hydraulic transmission mechanism.



c. c. RICH.

HYDRAULIC mmsmssxommscmmsm.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, I910- 1,156,818. Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

v 2 SHEETSSHEET I.

C. C. RICH. YDRAULIC TRANSMISSIdN MECHANISM.

APPLICATiON FILED JULY 23, 19I0.

Patented 001. 12, 1915;

2 SHEETSSHEET 2 CHARLES C. RICH, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TOTHE HYDRO-KINETIC TRANSMISSION COMPANY, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK, ACORPORATION OF MAINE.

HYDRAULIC TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

Application filed July 23, 1910. Serial No. 573,568.

i and useful improvements in hydraulic transmission mechanisms of thecharacter disclosed in my co-pending applications, Serial Nos. 573,566,filed July 23, 1910, and 573,567 filed of like date, and is speciallydesigned for use in connection with automobiles, motor trucks or otherself-propelled vehicles, although it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to this use, but is applicable generally fortransmitting power from a drive to a driven shaft.

The present invention has for its primary object an improvedconstruction and arrangement of parts, in a mechanism of this type,whereby the weight will be evenly distributed, vibration reduced to aminimum and the parts close-coupled and rigid.

With this and other objects in view as will more fully appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions,arrangements and combinations of the parts that I shall hereinafterfully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to thefollowing de scription and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the framework or running gear of a motorvehicle,

the same being illustrated conventionally and showing the disposition ofone embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional viewthrough a portion of the motors and the valve mechanism; Fig. 3 is avertical longitudinal sectional view on an enlarged scale; and, Fig. 4.is a horizontal sectional view of the reversing valve, the section beingtaken substantially on the line 41-4 of Fig. 3.'

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

In this embodiment of the invention, I

provide two pumps P of the rotary type, the

pumps being arranged one along side of the other iii spaced relation toeach other, and each containlng a rotor R secured on a shaft S.

1 designates the casings of the respective pumps.

The adjoining or inner ends of the shafts S have secured thereon, inspaced relation to each other, bevel gear wheels 2 which face as shownand extend parallel, both of said bevel gear wheels 2 meshing with aninterposed bevel pinion 3 secured to the drive shaft of the gasoleneengine 4 or other prime mover.

5 designates the casing of the motor M, said motor being quadruple, anddivided into two pairs of compartments with a rotor 6 1n eachcompartment. Each pair of rotors 6 is keyed or otherwise secured to asection 7 of a shaft which may be any shaft to receive the transmittedpower, the present em bodiment of the invention illustrating this shaftas a countershaft connected to the rear axle 8 of the vehicle by drivechains 9.

It will thus be understood that there are in effect four hydraulicmotors arranged in two 1 pairs, although all housed in the same casing,

and that the adjoining sections of the countershaft 7 terminate inalinement with each other in bearing sockets formed in the main middlepartition 10 of said casing. One

pair'of rotors 6 may be obviously turned independently of the otherandthereby secure a differential action, thus doing away entirely with thenecessity of difierential gears.

In order to control both pairs of hydraulic motors, I have provided twovalves 11 mounted in a casing 0, each of said valves being formed nearits ends with transversely extending passages 12 that are branched outat one end, as indicated at 12*,

13 designates the ports which lead to and from the respective motors,said ports being controlled by the valves 11, in an odor:- tive manner.

In that position of the valves illustrated in Fig. 2, it will beunderstood that the m0- tive fluid is passing from the two pumps P toboth pairs of motors and back again, all of the rotors 6 being therebyacted upon and the force of the fluid being distributed wherebyconsiderable power is secured, but

a relatively slow speed. By turning the of the casing C, thelongitudinally extending peripheral grooves 14 will be brought 0ppositethe ports 13 and the branch ends 15 of the passages that lead throughthe casing G from and to the valves and pumps, so that the inlet andoutlet ports of all of the motors will be bridged, as well as the upperand lower branch passages 15, and the two pumps and all of the motorswill be permitted to run free but will be entirely disconnected fromeach other. This is, of course, the neutral position of the parts. Bygiving the valves 11 another turn, the passages 12, 12 will establishcommunication between the ports of the outermost motors and the saidbranched passages 15, while at the same time the ports of the innermostmotors will be bridged to permit said last named motors to run freeWithout any operative connection whatever with the branched passages 15.Hence, as is evident in this last named position of the valves, themotive fluid will be passed to and from the pumps P and the outermostmotors only, and the full force of the fluid will be exerted upon saidoutermost motors, whereby to obtain a rela tively high speed. Theoutermost motors are always in commission when the parts are operating,and this-is manifestly an advantage, as it serves to reduce lateral, andtorsional strain on the shaft sections 7 to a minimum.

in connection with the two speed controlling valves 11, there isembodied in the casing C a reversing valve 16 which is in the form of apiston mounted within a cylindrical chamber and arranged for a limitedlongitudinal movement therein. This piston is formed in its ends withannular peripheral grooves 17 and is additionally provided withobliquely extending cross passages 18. When the piston 16 is in theposition illustrated in Fig. 3, it is clear that the motive fluid canpass directly from and to the pump P and through the controlling valves11, but when the piston is raised to a position which will bring theends of the cross passages 18 into registry with the ports that areformed in the walls of the chamber 19 which receives the piston, thedirection of flow will be reversed and consequently the motors will beturned rearwardly.

Manifestly, the disposition of the two pumps P and the gear connectionsof their rotor shafts with the drive shaft of the prime mover, causessaid rotor shafts to turn in opposite directions and to compensate forthis so that the motive fluid as it passes to and from both pumps, willflow in the same direction relative to one pump as to the other, thecasing C is formed at one side with oppositely extending reversingpassages 20, as best illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. I

As set forth particularly in one of my companion applications Serial No.653,681

filed October 9, 1911, (Case C), my invention provides by-pass passages20 in the pumps as well as the motors, said by-pass passages beingcontrolled by plugs or cocks 21, or similar accessories under thecontrol of the operator. In the present instance, all of the plugs 21are provided with handles by which they may be turned, and the handie ofthe motor plugs are connected together by a common link bar 22. Thehandles of the pump plugs are similarly connected by a link bar 23. Bothof these link bars are connected to bell cranks 24, and said bell cranksare operated by a foot treadle 25. this means it is evident that all ofthe plugs may be turned in a direction to open ated in any desired way,as by toothed seg ments 26 meshing with each other and mounted on theupper ends or stems of the valves, one of said segments being connectedby a link to a bell crank 27 and the latter in turn connected to a handlever 28.

From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, it will be understood that in the operation of my improvedhydraulic transmission mechanism, the simultaneous manipulation of thespeed controlling valves 11 may cause the two pumps P to drive all ofthe four motors M simultaneously, that by turning the valves to acertain position, the adjoining motors .of the set may be permitted torun free,

while the entire force of the fluid acts upon the outermost motors ofthe set, that although the pumps are turning in opposite directions,they both efl'ect circulation of the motive fluid in the samevdirection, and that the motors may be easily reversed or the pumpsentirely disconnected from the motors in an operative sense by theaction of the piston 16 or the manipulation of the plug valves 21without the necessity of shifting the speed controlling valves.

By mounting all of the valves in the same casing as best illustrated inFig. 2, not only is it possible to couple the parts closely, but thecasing serves as an effective brace between the pump casings and thecasings of the motors, the parts being rendered very rigid and free fromvibration. It will also be observed that the pumps are closely connectedto the motors and to the prime mover 4 and that all piping between theparts is practically eliminated, while at the same time the passages arerelatively free from waste-and friction and the setting up of eddies isto a considerable extent eliminated.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In hydraulic transmission mechanism, the combination of pumpingmechanism, a plurality of hydraulic motors, the pumping mechanism beingset with its ports facing the ports of the motors, a single valve casinginterposed between the pumping mechanism and the motors and closelycoupled directly thereto in communication with the ports thereof, speedcontrolling valves mounted in said casing and operable to pass the fluidto and from the pumping mechanism and the motors simultaneously andtoalso pass the motive fluid from and to the pumping mechanism, and tosundry of said motors independently of the others, whereby to securedifferent speeds, and a single reversing valve also embodied in the samecasing with the speed controlling valves and interposed between thelatter and the pumping mechanism, so as to control the direction of flowof the motive fluid to and from the speed controlling valves and alsothrough the same to the motors.

2. In hydraulic transmission mechanism, the combination of pumpingmechanism, a plurality of sets of hydraulic motors, a single valvecasing interposed between the pumping mechanism and the sets of motors,having a portion disposed directly opposite each set of motors and incommunication with the ports thereof, speed controlling valves mountedin said casing and operating to pass fluid to and from the pumpingmechanism and the motors simultaneously and to also pass the motivefluid from and to the pumping mechanism, and to certain of said motorsindependently of the other motors whereby to secure different speeds,and a single reversing valve mounted in the same casing with the speedcontrolling valves and interposed between the latter and the pumpingmechanism to control the direction of flow of the motive fluid to andfrom the speed controlling valves and also through the same to themotors.

3. In hydraulic transmission mechanism,

the combination with pumpingmechanism, of opposed shaft sections, aplurality of motors mounted on each of said shaft sections, means fordirecting fluid from the pumping mechanism in one direction through allof ,the motors on each shaft or through certain of the motors on eachshaft, and means for reversing the direction of movement of the flowthrough said motors.

4. In hydraulic transmission mechanism, a pair of pumps, bevel gearwheels disposed between said pumps for operating the same, a prime moverenga 'ng both 0 said gear wheels, a plurality 0 sets of hydraulicmotors, each set comprising a plurality of motors, means for directingfluid from both of said pumps in one direction through all of the motorsof. both sets, or through certain of the motors of both sets, and meansfor reversing the direction of movement of the flow through said motors.

5. In hydraulic transmission mechanism, the combination with pumpingmechanism, of two pairs of hydraulic motors, two valve chambers, one foreach pair of motors, each valve chamber having two pairs of passagesextending one pair to each of the motors of a pair, valves one in eachvalve chamber adapted to direct fluid either into both motors connectedthereto or only into one of said motors, a reversing valve chamberhaving ducts leading therefrom to the first named valve chambers, andhaving a duct leading therefrom to the pumping mechanism, and a valve insaid chamber for reversing the flow of motive fluid through the motors.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES C. RICH. [1,. s.]

